Avalanche insider floats Trent Miner as potential trade bait

The league-leading Colorado Avalanche have gotten excellent goaltending this season. The team has only allowed 110 goals against, fewest in the league. Of course, most of the thanks can be given to Mackenzie Blackwood and Scott Wedgewood. But, with both goaltenders suffering minor injuries, Trent Miner was recently called up from the Colorado Eagles to suit up for the Avs. Miner played very well, notching his first NHL win and shutout against the Columbus Blue Jackets. While Miner's career record in the NHL is 1-1-3, his .912 save percentage and 2.19 goals-against average are very respectable numbers.

Earlier this week, an article from Brennan Vogt of Hockey Mountain High posed a question regarding the future of Trent Miner. With Ilya Nabokov's eventual arrival from the KHL and Isak Posch having an impressive rookie season, Vogt wonders if the Avs might use Miner as trade bait at some point this season or offseason. It certainly is an intriguing question, with the Lumberyard in tow for another year and two other options, is Miner really the odd man out?

Why the Avalanche should wait to move a goaltender

Vogt's reasoning for why the move could be likely makes a lot of sense, but there are a few reasons to hold off on moving Miner, or even Nabokov or Posch.

To start, Nabokov has had a bit of a rough season in the KHL. He's got a solid record at 17-4-0, but a 2.77 GAA and .898 save percengage are not great numbers. He likely needs at least a season in the AHL before getting real looks with the big squad. Nabokov was drafted and slated as the goalie of the future and that idea hasn't changed yet.

While I'm impressed with Posch's impressive start to his rookie campaign, things can change year over year, especially for goaltenders. Nabokov is a prime example of that, having two excellent seasons prior to this one. With Nabokov and Miner manning the net for the Colorado Eagles, Posch would have to be sent down to the ECHL. That's not a good step for his development, but I would pose this arrangement as a one-year plan.

As I stated previously, the goaltending position can be volatile from year to year. The Avalanche don't really know what they have in Nabokov or Posch. Miner's been in the system for a while and is more of a known commodity, but has only played six games in the NHL. I think the Avalanche should hold on to all goalies and really evaluate what they have in Miner, Posch and Nabokov when he finally comes over from the KHL.

In addition to that, both Blackwood and Wedgewood have been a bit banged up at times this season. This is especially true for Blackwood, who has had multiple stints on injured reserve this season. If injuries continue to be a concern into next year, trading away Miner could be bad news if Nabokov can't translate to the AHL/NHL or Posch is somewhat of a flash in the pan.

In reality, it's likely that Miner or even Posch could be the prospect piece for a trade in the offseason or next year's trade deadline. I would think if the Avs really want to develop Miner and/or Posch as the goalies of the future, then why not move Scott Wedgewood to a needy contender at the deadline. I don't want to break up the Lumberyard, but Wedgewood is already 33. His recent contract extension allows the Avalanche to keep developing their stable of younger goaltenders, but it could be a wise move to move him and finally bring one up to be the full-time backup.